GOP

THE WEEKLY STANDARD podcast with Bill Kristol, hosted by Michael Graham:

Charlotte Allen writes:

Senate aides confirm that Republican senator Mitch McConnell has been reelected minority leader in the Senate. Conservative stalwarts Pat Toomey and Marco Rubio spoke in favor of McConnell's nomination at the closed door session.

Megan McArdle offers a few reasons to be skeptical of an "emerging Democratic majority."

Vice President Joe Biden told reporters on Air Force Two today that last night's election represented a clear "mandate" to raise taxes.

"Where specifically do you think Republicans will be willing to compromise on issues of debt/deficit?" a pool reported asked Biden.

The latest Washington Post/ABC News poll projects a 5-point turnout advantage for Democrats over Republicans (34 to 29 percent) yet still shows Mitt Romney leading President Obama by 1 percentage point — 49 to 48 percent.  This is Romney’s first lead since the summer in Washington Post/ABC News polling.  Jon Cohen, director of polling for the Post, writes, “Political independents break for Romney by a 12-percentage-point margin on the subject [of the economy], a high for the campaign.”

Buried in the middle of an interesting Politico article on GOP alarm over the Romney campaign's neglect of foreign policy and its "ham-handed response" to criticism on that score is this:

Tampa
A few hours before Mitt Romney spoke to the Republican convention last night, his campaign did something clever. It’s normal procedure before a major speech is to release excerpts so the evening TV news shows can preview the address. The Romney team did so, only these excerpts were dull and uninteresting.

Today brings us a Bloomberg column from Michael Tackett, "Hero Reagan’s Compromise Would Collide With Tea Party Certitude." It's rather unfortunate this particular talking point keeps making the rounds, as it requires arguing alternate history. Further, asserting that Ronald Reagan is significantly divorced from our current understanding of conservatism is silly on its face.

Can you find the "MOST INTRIGUING SENTENCE" in today's Playbook from Politico? It's from these paragraphs:

I’m reassured—indeed, encouraged—indeed, buoyed!—by this morning's Politico article, "GOP pros fret over Paul Ryan." "GOP pros" are the stupidest part of "the stupid party." For one thing, they're not very professional—why are they using the press to take shots at the Ryan pick in the first place? For another, they're cowardly—“nearly all the Republican professionals interviewed for this story said they would share their unfiltered views only 'on background' rules of attribution." Most of all, they're a terrific contrarian indicator.

The New York Times reports that "a veteran Republican campaign consultant," speaking on the condition of anonymity and in an apparent time warp, said, "Anytime Republicans are debating taxes and the economy, we’re winning. Anytime we’re debating health care, they’re winning." In 2008, this might well have been true. But in 2012, well over two years into the era of Obamacare, it's an amazing and head-scratching statement.